Hello Fall!

Taken by a friend here in Inkom. This is where I live, GORGEOUS right? 

I saw one of my favorite bloggers made a fall bucket list and I thought that was such a great idea. Sometimes I get in a slump thinking about how Abbigail and I are "stuck" inside all day, everyday. (Which isn't true, but that is what my mind has been telling me lately.) Plus I just love making lists because they make me feel accomplished! So here it is:

Our Fall Bucket List! 

-Take Abbigail to a pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin! 

-Make all kinds of pumpkin desserts, multiple times!

-Bundle up in our sweaters and boots and take Abbi on a walk a few times a week.

-Decorate the house for fall/Halloween. 

-Cuddle on the couch with Drew and watch his favorite show.

-Make hot chocolate like everyday!

-Get/Make Abbi a Halloween costume. 

-Take more pictures WITH Abbi. 

-Learn to make caramel corn.

-Make a bunch of goodies and deliver them to people in our ward. 

-Get to know my neighbors better. 

-Read my scriptures everyday and Listen to a conference talk daily too. 

-Read a new book. 

-Make chili and corn bread! Yum! 

- Learn how to make a new "fall" recipe. 

- Decorate our pumpkins! 

-Hand out candy on Halloween! 

Did I miss something? 

What fun plans do you guys have this fall?

Dear Abbi: You Matter.

Dear Abbigail, 

My heart has been very heavy lately. After long, tiring days, your daddy and I enjoy cuddling on the couch and watching some TV together. Shows on television have been getting bad, but more recently we have noticed how hard it is to watch a TV show without it referring to God, sex, or families in a very irreverent and inappropriate manner. It makes me sad. 

Today, I came across this article and it gave me comfort. I'm not alone. The world is telling you, you have to be prideful, rebellious, and immodest in order to fit in and be important. I want to tell you, they are wrong.   

Heavenly Father created you. You are His daughter. You are smart, beautiful, caring, confident and YOU MATTER. 

Please understand you don't have to be a follower. You don't have to change who you are and throw away values to fit in. You can be a leader. You can be an example to others. You can show people that true happiness comes from having a relationship with God. True happiness comes from respecting your body, knowing who you are and where you came from and being a true friend. Happiness comes from serving others, and doing your best everyday to do good in this world. 

I love you Abbi. Always remember who you are. You are a daughter of your Heavenly Father and He loves you. He cares about you and He knows you personally. Rely on Him. Rely on Him always. He will give you courage to stand up for what's right, the desire to be chaste and virtuous and the confidence to be yourself. 

Because Abbigail, - You Matter. 

"Let the knowledge that you are a daughter of God settle deep into your soul, it will comfort you, strengthen your faith, and influence your conduct...Heavenly Father knows you and loves you. You are His special daughter. He has a plan for you"

-Susan W. Tanner

To learn more about what we believe, go here. 

Five things.

Hello Friends! Happy Friday! We are so happy it's the weekend! Weekends equal quality Daddy time. We sure miss that guy while he is at work during the week. Tonight we are going to support Drew's school at their football game (GO MVHS!) and tomorrow we're taking Abbigail to the zoo! Her first time ever! I'm 99% sure she is going to like LOVE it, but we will see, that girl always surprises me.

Here are five things that made my week a little happier, hopefully they will put a smile on your face too! 

1. This video. Really, at least watch until the chorus... it's ridiculously funny! or maybe just ridiculous?!

*somebody tell me how this video has over 40 MILLION views?!?

2. Giving this little girl baths! I can't help but laugh when she sticks her whole face in the water, blows bubbles and then claps for herself. Yeah, she is pretty awesome!

I guess we kinda look alike. 

3. This Meme. I don't think it ever gets old.

(nope, still funny!)

4. This one needs no explanation.


5. Thinking about dressing Abbi up like a grandma for Halloween. Everyone in favor of this... say 'I". 

And that concludes this random Friday post. Happy Weekend! 

Blessed.

My sweet Abbigail is getting so big! {I mean she turns one THIS month!} Often times throughout my week, I find myself missing the newborn baby stage. I miss swaddling her and rocking her to sleep. I miss holding her tight as she eats. I miss the times she was learning how to smile, and laugh, and roll, and crawl. There are so many things I miss. Then I look over at her, she looks at me and smiles as she says "mama" and my heart melts. Why do I do that? Why do I focus on the past and focus on how much I miss those precious milestones that have already happened? Why can't I focus more on the milestones that will happen? Why can't I live in the present and look forward to our future instead of focusing on our past? 

Abbi is turning one this month! She is walking around like a champ, learning how to throw her own diaper away (which she has a weird obsession with, btw), opening up cabinets, learning new words, eating regular food, using sippy cups, reading books to herself, talking to me (all day long), and I love every second of it! 

I love that she can blow me kisses, I love that she can say (sign) please when she wants something from me, I love that she can sleep through the night and wake up happy, I love that she is ticklish, I just love everything about her. 

Sometimes I just look at her and feel so overwhelmed! Sometimes I can't believe she is really mine. This is my life! God has entrusted me to take care of this sweet, smart, independent, sassy little girl. I am thankful everyday for the opportunity to do just that. 

A day at the park

We needed a break. After all, staying at home all day pretending to clean house is pretty exhausting. So Abbi and I put on our shoes, and headed to the park. No one was there! I was pretty surprised because with the exception of a little breeze, the weather was perfect! Since nobody was there but us, Abbi was free to roam and play without the crazy big kids getting in the way. The park is a lot more fun when Abbi can walk around and actually enjoy playing on the slide, swing, etc.  We are so lucky to have a nice little park just down the street from us. You can bet this won't be our last park outing. We love summertime! 

Lately...

Lately, life has been pretty awesome! To start off, we bought a car! {woot woot!} It is a beautiful 2007 Honda Civic. Seriously, It's like we were made for each other. I was driving down the road one day, glanced over at the used car lot as I was driving by (as I do almost everyday) and saw crappy car, crappy car, junky car, beautiful, nice, Honda Civic, crappy car, crappy car, you get the idea. It stuck out like a sore thumb. The next morning I called to get the details, It was in our price range and the year we wanted and we were the first people to call on it. He had just put it out on the lot a few days prior. What? I was so excited, after test driving it, taking it to a mechanic, etc, we bought it! Oh happy, happy day! 

Last weekend, Ryker came to town again. This time his parents were here too! We love when Heather and Justin get to come visit. Also, Abbi and Ryker are best friends! It's adorable! They follow each other around, kiss each other, laugh with one another, and it is awesome! When Abbi takes a toy Ryker is playing with or even thinking about playing with, he kinda gets upset, but Abbi doesn't care. She is just happy to be with him! That's why their friendship is working out so great! While he was here, we busted out the little swimming pool at Nana's house and they loved it! Abbigail loves water. But when it comes to swimming, she takes a little longer to warm up. (like 20 minutes or so). But after she has decided she is ready, we can't pull her away! She loves it! I need to take her to the little water park here in Pocatello. I bet she would be in Heaven! 

Drew and I were able to leave Abbi and Nana and Grandpa's house and sneak away to the temple. Temple dates are my favorite! I come home with joy and peace in my heart and a renewed love for Drew and Abbigail AND I feel my relationship with my Heavenly Father grows as I go to the temple. It's awesome! 

A couple days ago, Abbi's small cold started getting a lot worse and she got a fever. I know, I know, you're thinking, "She is sick again?" I thought she was, so I took her to the doctor and he told us there is no ear infection, but FOUR news teeth coming through. Poor Abbi huh? So the last couple days at our house have been quite miserable if I'm being honest with you. I feel like these kind of days have been the hardest part of being a mom so far. My baby is sick/teething, not feeling good, crying and I really can't do anything for her except Tylenol and cuddling. It makes for a very frustrated and exhausted Mama. 

Last but definitely not least, in fact it's probably to coolest thing to happen in the past week, Abbi has become a walking machine! It's awesome! She has been working on walking for the past couple of weeks, but just this week she has almost mastered it. She still falls, and she cant stand back up on her own yet, but she can just about make it across a whole room. And the best thing is she isn't afraid to try anymore. She gets excited to walk! She squeals and flaps her arms as she is trying to balance while walking across the room. Then, when she falls, she claps for her self. She is so funny. Anyway, to prove it, here is a video!

And that's about it. Thanks for reading!

P.S. I know I've been changing my blog design just about as often as I change Abbi's diapers (and as you know, that is FREQUENT!) But I like this design, so I think it should be here awhile...

Seriously...

 

Can she get any cuter?! This girl melts my heart! I'm so blessed to be her Mama...

Family Pictures 2013

We finally got some family pictures done! I had been dying for updated pictures! We hadn't gotten pictures taken of us since our wedding day and quite a bit has changed since then. I found a super great deal and couldn't pass it up. I'm so excited to have new pictures up on my wall! Boo Ya!

6 Months.

First of all, I can't believe I am the mother of a 6 month old. That's half way to a year! I've said this before, but time really is passing too quickly. At 6 months:
-Abbi weighs 13lbs 6oz and is 24.75 inches long. She is pretty petite (8th percentile), but her head is in the 50th percentile. She's a smarty! -Abbi has started scooting, sitting up, and is really, really close to crawling. Seriously, it's freaking me out! Time to baby proof EVERYTHING! -Officially has one tooth that has popped through, but we are fairly certain a couple more are not far behind. Thank you Tylenol!   -She is eating solids morning and night with bottles throughout the rest of the day. I've bought some little snacks, but she isn't a huge fan. The only snack she will eat are the Gerber biscuit/cookie things. She loves those! Me, not so much. FYI, they are SUPER hard to clean up!  -She is loving bath time! When she was first born, there was nothing worse than bath time. Now, if she is fussy we throw her in the bath and all is good in the world.  -She has kind of made her own sleeping schedule. Her naps during the day are pretty regular. One nap from 9-11 and another one from 1-3. After that we try and keep her up until bed time. (that's usually between 7 and 8). Usually, she wakes up once during the night for a quick bottle, then she is back to sleep. But last night she went 11 hours straight!  -She knows who strangers are. If Mom or Dad is holding her, she is a very social girl, but if we hand her off to someone she doesn't know she starts crying. (makes me feel needed :)
We honestly feel so blessed to have Abbigail in our lives. She is a very happy and playful baby. It melts my heart to see her laughing and playing with dad. She is so full of personality already. I can't wait to see what her future holds.